Housing Challenge in Nigeria shall remain Unless….-Prof. Olagoke
- By solomon2day
- On 09/12/2019
Nigerians have continued to express reservations over the nonchalant attitude of government at all levels on issues bothering on affordable housing for the citizenry.
Indeed, a number of unscrupulous government officials in connivance with private estate developers have taken advantage of the very obvious housing deficit in the country to exploit and extort homeless Nigerians. In a number of cases, house owners are dispossessed of their property through dubious means, while a sizable number of citizens have been victims of questionable professionals in the building industry.
Government’s response to this development has been the repeated issuance of political statements with no visible steps taken to address the worrisome challenge. In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that when sanity returns to the government establishments, the hope of Nigerians having their own houses would be rekindled. Excerpts :
What measures do you think government can put in place to address the housing deficit in the country ?
The United States of America wondered aloud that the same Democracy operated in that country to ensure development, is the same been operated in Nigeria that has been used to oppress and impoverish Nigerians. This statement is highly pregnant with meanings, insinuations and implications.
Regarding the issue of housing for all, the National Party of Nigeria(NPN) in the 1980s promised to provide housing for all to justify its victory at the polls for a second tenure. However, its manifesto was merely a paper tiger, while its promise to provide housing for all was a mirage.
Up till today, the reality regarding the housing challenges remain the same old story-insufficient housing for the ever increasing population of Nigeria.
In the face of this shortcoming, prices of building materials are ever increasing with the negative effects manifesting on those who manage to put up structures. The issue of sub-standard houses now trail the daily lives of the owners whose strictures are located in remote areas. The distance now brings about problems of transportation.
Theses built houses could easily collapse due to the inferior materials used for their construction, this is in addition to the use of quacks rather than professionals. Even though cost is saved, but the problems associated with building collapse now takes the center stage. Most of the edifices in different locations not owned by government, must have been built through treasury looting.
Also, Shylock Landlords overrun and overtake homeless Nigerians, thereby making life difficult. As a result developers take advantage of the situation by embarking on an aggressive marketing drive through the media to acquire lands at cheap rates, divide it into plots and estates and later sell to Nigerians through hire purchase.
Who are these developers ? Most of them are either professionals in the building industry, estate agents or the ones who must have been very successful in romanticizing with people in government.
Nigerians are now preys to the above mentioned, to the extent that they worry about how to source for funds to meet up with the demands of those in the building industry, in the face of non payment of salaries by their employers either government or private concerns.
Governance goes beyond the accumulation of wealth, it is about the provision of basic amenities and functional infrastructure for every Nigerian to be actively involved in the development process of the nation.
In the light of the foregoing, the Judiciary must be given a free hand and the anti-corruption agencies must be strengthened to ensure that justice is done and the era of sacred cows would be seen to be gone for good.
This would encourage government officials to achieve maximally, in the areas of Democracy for service and service to humanity. To this extent the issue of sharp practices, when it comes to the 17 point agenda of the Unsuitable Development Goals(SDGs) would have been taken care of as regards the realization of housing for all Nigerians.